Featured Research

A new three-drug cocktail used to treat ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease, may increase life span and decrease disease progression according to a study conducted at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC).

Share This

Montreal, April 1 2003 – A new three-drug cocktail used to treat ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease, may increase life span and decrease disease progression according to a study conducted at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). The study, published in today's issue of Annals of Neurology, is the first to look at this drug combination in a mouse model of ALS. This research was made possible by a partnership led by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), in conjunction with the ALS society of Canada and the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Canada (MDAC).

Related Articles

"Last year, we demonstrated that minocycline, a commonly prescribed antibiotic, on its own reduced disease progression, and delayed death in the ALS mice," says MUHC neuroscientist and senior author, Dr. Jean-Pierre Julien. "Findings from our current study show that a therapeutic approach based on a combination of minocycline with two other drugs is much more effective in delaying the onset of the disease and in increasing the longevity of the ALS mice."

"The results are very impressive," says Dr. Angela Genge, director of the ALS clinic at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital. "The approach that Dr. Kriz and Dr Julien use is uniquely helpful in screening for potentially effective therapies in this cruel, currently incurable disease. Every gain gives us hope for the future."

"These research results give people who suffer from ALS hope, and show how well CIHR is working," said Dr. Rιmi Quirion, Scientific Director of the Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction of the CIHR. "I have followed and admired Dr. Julien's work for many years and it is important that the Government of Canada invest in this kind of research."

"These results provide hope to ALS patients and their families," says Centre Hospitalier de l'Universite de Montreal (CHUM) ALS clinician Dr. Monique D'Amour. "Because there is little effective treatment for ALS, new drug strategies are necessary. We will have to see if this will work in patients."

A steadily progressive and fatal neuromuscular disease, ALS erodes a person's nervous system, eventually leading to paralysis and the inability to speak or swallow. People with ALS usually die within three to five years of diagnosis. Little is known about the cause of ALS and there is no cure. It is a disease of national importance, affecting between 1,500 and 2,000 people in Canada. Two to three Canadians a day die of ALS.

The discovery reported in this paper by Dr. Jasna Kriz, Ms. Geneviθve Gowing and Dr. Julien is funded by a unique partnership between the ALS Society of Canada and the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Canada (MDAC). This partnership, in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), has funded over $9 million of neuromuscular research since 2000.

"This is very exciting news for the ALS community," says Helene Vassos, interim National Executive Director for the ALS Society of Canada. "We are pleased that research, funded by our collaborative initiative with the MDAC and CIHR continues to result in important discoveries."

Dr. Julien, who is also a professor of Neurosciences at McGill University says that Dr. Kriz looked at the effect of combining three different drugs on the disease progression of ALS mice. The three drugs administered include minocyline- an antibiotic with anti-inflammatory properties, riluzole – the traditional ALS drug, and nimodipine – a drug that blocks calcium channels and normally used to treat brain hemorrhage and for prevention of migraine headache. Dr. Kriz compared the life span, muscle strength, nerve cell loss, and inflammatory response in ALS-mice who were fed a regular diet with those given food containing the three-drug cocktail. The mice fed the drug cocktail lived substantially longer, had a delayed onset of neuronal and muscle deterioration. "Our findings demonstrate the merit of a drug combination approach for treatment of a disease with complex degeneration pathways. The three drugs are currently available and we hope that our study will justify a trial on ALS patients," says Dr. Julien.

###

About the CIHR

CIHR is Canada's premier agency for health research. Its objective is to excel, according to internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence, in the creation of new knowledge and its translation into improved health for Canadians, more effective health services and products and a strengthened health care system. CIHR's Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction supports research to enhance mental health, neurological health, vision, hearing, and cognitive functioning and to reduce the burden of related disorders through prevention strategies, screening, diagnosis, treatment, support systems, and palliation.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by McGill University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

More From ScienceDaily

More Health & Medicine News

Featured Research

Mar. 3, 2015  Scientists have discovered a new hormone that fights the weight gain caused by a high-fat Western diet and normalizes the metabolism -- effects commonly associated with exercising. When tested in ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015  New assays can detect malaria parasites in human blood at very low levels and might be helpful in the campaign to eradicate malaria, reports a new study. An international team led by Ingrid Felger, ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015  Adults over the age of 30 only catch flu about twice a decade, a new study suggests. So, while it may feel like more, flu-like illness can be caused by many pathogens, making it difficult to assess ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015  No significant change in home habits of smokers have been observed in the aftermath of a ban on smoking in public spaces, researchers report. Greater inspiration to kick the habit likely comes from ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015  Heart function has been associated with the development of dementia and Alzheimer's disease through a new study. Participants with decreased heart function, measured by cardiac index, were two to ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015  Children of recently separated or divorced families are likelier to drink sugar-sweetened beverages than children in families where the parents are married, putting them at higher risk for obesity ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015  Gastric bypass and similar stomach-shrinking surgeries are a popular option for obese patients looking to lose weight or treat type 2 diabetes. While the surgeries have been linked to a decreased ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015  Most people consume more salt than they need and therefore have a higher risk of heart disease and stroke, which are the two leading causes of death worldwide. But a new study reveals that dietary ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015  Twice as many children born to mothers who took antibiotics during pregnancy were diagnosed with asthma by age 3 than children born to mothers who didn’t take prenatal antibiotics, a new study has ... full story

Featured Videos

Mom Triumphs Over Tragedy, Helps Other Families

AP (Mar. 3, 2015)  After her son, Dax, died from a rare form of leukemia, Julie Locke decided to give back to the doctors at St. Jude Children&apos;s Research Hospital who tried to save his life. She raised $1.6M to help other patients and their families. (March 3)
Video provided by AP

Looted and Leaking, South Sudan's Oil Wells Pose Health Risk

AFP (Mar. 3, 2015)  Thick black puddles and a looted, leaking ruin are all that remain of the Thar Jath oil treatment facility, once a crucial part of South Sudan&apos;s mainstay industry. Duration: 01:13
Video provided by AFP

Woman Convicted of Poisoning Son

AP (Mar. 3, 2015)  A woman who blogged for years about her son&apos;s constant health woes was convicted Monday of poisoning him to death by force-feeding heavy concentrations of sodium through his stomach tube. (March 3)
Video provided by AP

Related Stories

Nov. 20, 2014  Blocking molecules involved in ALS-drug resistance may improve how well ALS therapeutics work, suggesting that re-evaluation of drugs that appeared to have failed might be ... full story

Nov. 13, 2014  Mice bred to carry a gene variant found in a third of ALS patients have a faster disease progression and die sooner than mice with the standard genetic model of the disease, according to researchers. ... full story

Mar. 3, 2014  Neuroscientists have found that early muscle impairment related to Lou Gehrig's disease, also called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, in mice is proportional to the degree of damage to the ... full story

Oct. 5, 2012  You’ve heard the tale before: Scientists can treat diseases like Alzheimer’s and Lou Gehrig’s in mice, but when those same drugs get to human trials, they fail. Can researchers come up with ... full story

ScienceDaily features breaking news and videos about the latest discoveries in health, technology, the environment, and more -- from major news services and leading universities, scientific journals, and research organizations.